The National Universities Commission (NUC) has said about N3 billion available under the national research fund at Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) have not been accessed.It said the funds could not be accessed because many academics do not know how to write research proposals that could secure them grants.

NUC’s Director, Research, Innovation and Information Technology, Dr. Suleiman Ramon-Yusuf, disclosed this yesterday at the opening ceremony of a three-day national workshop on Research, Grant Writing and Administration at Lagos State University (LASU) in Lagos.

Ramon-Yusuf, who was represented by Deputy Director, Research, Mohammed Audu, said it was difficult to overstretch the importance of research in a university. He stated that the current thinking in the NUC was the need to encourage Nigerian universities to engage in research activities that would make their relevance to national development very clear.

His words: “We are equally glad that the twin components of grants are included in the administration of the grant. “A grant well expended as planned would ensure achievement of set objectives and goal, endears confidence of the funder, confer integrity on the researcher and his institution as well as guarantee future access to similar fund.”

However, Vice Chancellor of LASU, Professor Olarenwaju Fagbohun and former Director General, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Professor Epiphany Azinge canvassed effective funding of research in the country.Fagbohun noted that proper funding of research would bridge the gap between the town and gown.

Speaking, Azinge noted that all over the world and in other continents, specific grants were targeted for specific research undertakings, each for achieving set purposes or objectives.He argued that it was fundamental to find out whether Nigerian scholars and researchers in particular and Africa in general take time to address the issue of research grants through research grant writing.

He stressed that judicious use of funds should be a cardinal policy, saying, “diversion of funds for personal purposes is not allowed.” Azinge further noted that any unexpected resources must be accounted for, and that a comprehensive report of not only the research undertaking but also of the entire process is expected from the research to the grant givers.